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Thursday, 29 October 2015

External Review of Catholic Special Character and DevelopmentJust before the end of Term 3, we had our review. All Catholic schools have an external review every three years along with the government education review. We are very proud to share this excerpt from the report with you.

Summary Page:
St Joseph’s Oamaru is a highly successful Catholic school. It has constantly sought to
refine and improve its systems and practices. It welcomes external review as a way of
assuring its community of the work being done from self review.
It has sought to create a synthesis of faith and life by developing a strong and authentic
partnership between the parish and the school and with the local Catholic College. The
Parish Priest promotes and encourages the school in its work and welcomes students
and parents to participate in various ministries and liturgies within the parish.
Teachers are generally involved with the parish. All tagged staff have authentic roles in
the church and open place staff are also known to be part of parish liturgy. Children
see a community of Catholic practice that welcomes them and encourages them. Senior
Parishioners readily stand aside from ministries to encourage the students to lead and
share.
Leadership of the school is at a high level. The school has a strong Board who
understand their role in keeping Special Character at the centre of the mission and
who genuinely look to contribute to the school’s governance.
The Parish Priest plays a key role in sustaining the relationship with the staff and
students. He welcomes students in their liturgies, he is visible in the school and he
encourages parents to reconnect with their faith as they journey with their children.
The Principal models good practice and encourages and supports young staff to
participate. Her focus on continuous improvement and enthusiasm for review and
reflection is appreciated by her local community and in the wider Education
community, where she has been recognized as a leader. She has ensured that the
mission, charism and focus of the school are central to all activity.
Senior management and staff work as a unit. Support staff are enthusiastic about the
mission of the school. Both teaching and support staff provide high quality pastoral
care. The school is inclusive and welcoming. Staff, parents and students greet guests
with respect. A feature of this school is the culture within. It has boundaries
and expectations but these are not overtly enforced but rather referenced to the school
codes of conduct and values. Students understand why they are asked to live the school
values. It is quite common to hear and see students leading others and reminding them
of what the community values.
Students are very well presented in the school. There are many opportunities for
student leadership and student voice. The school has encouraged them to have a pride
in their appearance.
Religious Education classes are well planned and led by the Director of Religious
Studies and the Assistant Principal, Special Character. Together they ensure that what
is taught is highly focused. St Joseph’s has led the Diocese in finding ways to track and
record student progress, use data to help direct programme changes and use data to
adapt content according to the needs of the students. It understands this is new work
that will have several iterations but it leads other schools in this work.
A key feature of the success of the school and development of the school culture has
been the focus on supporting staff in their formation. The Board and Principal support
staff through the allocation of resources and a time allowance which helps make study
achievable.
Recommendations in the body of the report relate to incremental growth in Special
Character and continue to encourage the school retain its focus and mission. The
Proprietor can be assured that Special Character is at the heart of the success of this
school.Blog of the WeekThis week I would like to draw your attention to the Junior Hub 2 blog. You can access it here. There is a beautiful video of the Year 2 gospel presentation on the Beatitudes.

There are stories and chants that caught my eye too. Obviously world cup rugby fever has made it into the junior hub !!

There are photos from Discovery time and a maths strategy video and much more. Take some time to explore this blog with your children and talk about the activities that help them to engage with their learning.Student FeedbackLast week, I shared a link to the positive feedback shared by our parents. This week I have a link to our student feedback. You can access it here. Ensuring that we focus on having a positive attitude to all that we do, is important in relation to our learning.The feedback shows that our students are going deeper with their learning and moving beyond the simple acquisition of knowledge for knowledge's sake. Our students are beginning to articulate and understand the conditions that are supporting them to learn for success. This becomes more evident in the student responses as they progress from Year 4 to Year 8. We can feel motivated and inspired by all of our student responses.Maths BlogSpecial thanks to Mr Cartlidge and Miss Tangney who have set up and developed our St Joseph's school maths blog. It has videos the children and teachers have made to explain learning strategies. There are also many links to free maths resources. This excellent resource will continue to evolve and develop and be a rich resource for families and staff. You can access it here.

Multicultural CelebrationsNext Friday the 6th November, the children will be able to come dressed in clothes that reflect their own culture or other cultures. We will be following up on the success of our Multicultural Day from 2015 with another day to celebrate the diverse cultures we have in our St Joseph's family.

Australian Educational Assessments Congratulations to our students who received outstanding results in the 2015 English exams. They were rewarded with the following certificates: 1 Distinction, 10 Credits, 3 Merits and 10 Participation certificates. Absent are Hana Davies, Vince Vidallon and Annalise Kilgour.Well done to all of the children who have been sitting their speech exams this week.All of you are showing us how to Reach for the Stars as Lifelong Learners in the Catholic Faith.

The Beatitudes are eight blessings recounted in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Each is a proverb-like proclamation, without narrative, "cryptic, precise, and full of meaning. Each one includes a topic that forms a major biblical theme".

Sunday 1st November is the Feast of 'All Saints'. It is also the enrollment Mass for the children entering the Sacramental Programme for 2015-2016. Children will have the opportunity to meet their Prayer Partners after the 9.30am Mass in the hall for morning tea. All families are asked to bring a plate to share. This can be left in the hall before Mass on Sunday. Thank you.

The children will begin their preparation shortly to receive the 'Sacrament of Reconciliation' on Sunday 29th November 2015 (First Sunday of Advent) at the 9.30am Mass.

Nicolas Mendoza-Gonzalez, Tristan Serrano, Elias Fraser, Mekeisha Hurley, Paolo Mordeno and John Orillo.AthleticsSt Joseph's senior school will be holding their Athletics Day next Tuesday 3rd November for the whole day (children who are 8 or older on 1st October are involved). We need to run this event safely and adequately and would really appreciate some help with the rotations. Thank you to the parents who have already offered to help already. If you can help, please email Mrs Souness at tsouness@stjoseph.school.nzThe programme for the day is as follows:9.05 am Assemble on courts9.20 am Rotation 110.00 am Rotation 210.40 am Break - drink and morning tea and then straight to next rotation11.00 am Rotation 311.40 am Rotation 412.20 pm LUNCH1.00 pm Rotation 51.40 pm Rotation 62.20 pm Afternoon breakA bell will indicate change of events. Children need to come to school in their sports gear and have a warm jersey or jacket, longs, sun hat, sunscreen on and a water bottle. Students that qualify for the North Otago Athletics will receive information about this.

CricketPlease look for the information about cricket further in the blog.

Found

A pair of blue rimmed children's glasses have been handed into the office.GymnasticsHas finished for the year last week and will resume again next year.LostWe are looking for a Blockapedia Minecraft which is in a presentation box shaped like a cube and could have the name Bartlett on it. If anyone finds this box, please bring it to the office thanks.Pet DayWe think someone forgot to tell this duck that Pet Day was a couple of weeks ago as he waddled up to our front door and even came inside earlier this week!! Or he may have thought there was an in-duc-tion course on here.

Saints Week

Monday Week 6 (16th November) we will celebrate our learning in the Communion of Saints strand. Children can come dressed up as an inspiring saint or their confirmed saint. They can make their own costumes or bring a symbol that relates to their chosen saint. e.g. St Francis of Assisi (bring along a stuffed animal) or St Rose of Lima (wear flowers in their hair) or St Patrick (wear green or snakes).

School Photos

Will go home tomorrow and orders have to be given to the school office by Tuesday 10th November. Any orders that arrive after this date will have to go directly to Fotographix.

Sunflower Competition

The Waitaki Community Gardens are running a sunflower competition to see who can grow the best sunflowers. The flowers will be judged on February 28th February 2016 at the Farmers Market. There are prizes for the tallest, best decorated bucket/container and the best descript Fibonacci design. If you are interested in growing a sunflower in a bucket/container, come to the office and we will give you some seeds. For further information, contact Bianca on 021 268 4063.

Welcome

We warmly welcome Annelise Johnston to our new entrants class this week.

Congratulations

Tai Kwan Do

Well done to Lewis Gough, Paddy, Sebastian and Joseph Spillane who traveled to Blenheim last weekend to compete in a Tai Kwan Do tournament. Lewis and Joseph both got gold medals and Paddy and Sebastian received silver medals.

Touch Rugby Reps

Congratulations to the following students who were selected for the North Otago Touch Rugby Rep teams. In the U11 grade were Tessa Souness, Grace Keno, Baxter Lewis and Max Fatafehi and in the U13 grade were Tegan Souness, Antonia Black, Georgia Fox, Jacob Fowler, Toby Lewis and Sam Keno. They are playing in a tournament this weekend at Centennial Park, Oamaru starting at 10.00 am. They will play against teams from Dunedin, Taieri, Balclutha and Mosgiel and if they play well, they will be selected into the Otago Touch Rugby teams. Watch this space! Absent from the photo are Georgia Fox, Grace & Sam Keno.

Draw - Saturday 31st October4th Grade - St Joseph's v Valley A at St Kevin's 15th Grade - St Joseph's v Albion Red at St Kevin's Artificial 1Rules for each Grade4th Grade- 11 aside- 25 overs per innings- maximum 5 overs per bowler- team bowls 5 overs from one end and then swaps ends. Continue to swap ends until 25 overs are bowled or the opposition is bowled out. (This helps to speed the game up).- maximum 8 ball overs- each team to bring a set of wickets for each match. Note some games are played on artificial wickets so you will need spring loaded stumps.- games must start at 8.45 am and be finished before senior cricket starts. Look to finish games by 11.30 am/12.00 pm at the latest.- use normal cricket gear- batsman must wear a helmet5th Grade- 8 aside- 20 overs per innings (20/20)- maximum 4 overs per bowler- team bowls 5 overs from one end and then swaps ends. Continue swapping ends until 20 overs bowled or opposition bowled out (this helps to speed the game up).- maximum 6 ball overs- balls that are bowled wide are placed on a batting tee on the edge of the crease and batter gets one swing at the ball to get runs. The batter must play a drive on the offside. The ball cannot be caught, only run out. If the batter plays across the wicket, it is a dead ball and no runs are scored. (The idea of the tee is to enable batters to hit balls as a lot of the kids this age struggle to bowl to many balls straight enough for batters to hit).- each team to bring a set of wickets for each match. Note some games are played on artificial wickets so you will need spring loaded stumps.- games must start at 8.45 am and be finished before senior cricket starts. Look to finish games by 11.30 am/12.00 pm at the latest.- Use normal cricket gear except for the ball. Use the 'incrediball' type ball. This is a hybrid ball that is softer than a normal cricket ball but harder than a plastic ball. (safer ball for younger kids) These can be purchased at Oamaru Sports.- batsman must wear a helmetInformationPlease remember the important thing is for the kids to have fun and enjoy cricket. All players should bowl and bat each game. This may require coaches to retire batters to enable everyone to get a bat. Retired batters can return to the crease if needed. Coaches need to be mindful of their very fast bowlers bowling to players that may not be up to batting against them. This would be a good opportunity to bowl weaker bowlers or for the fast bowler to bowl slower balls. Common sense and safety is the key. Enjoy the summer and let the cricket begin. Thanks Justin Fowler, Cricket Coordinator.

Thursday, 22 October 2015

World Cup Mufti Day tomorrowPlease bring your $2 donations to go into the draw for some wonderful prizes.Thanks to Tegan Souness and Emily Hayman for organising these prizes. You can read about the sponsors further down in our blog.

Feedback from your learning responses last term and our Catholic character newsHere is the link to the feedback and our next steps moving forward. I have included some information from our recent review. I will share more with you next week.Staff newsFirstly, a warm welcome to Jan Plieger and Bridget McNally this term. Mrs McNally is teaching part time in Senior Hub 2 and Mrs Plieger is teaching in Junior Hub 1 as a third teacher.Secondly, we have appointed three new staff members for 2016. Together they will bring a diverse range of skills and expertise to our already talented teaching team. Here is some background information about them:1. We welcome Mrs Tua Misiloi to Junior Hub 1 to teach with Miss Gray. Tua has three degrees in Primary Teaching from Tonga, Australia and New Zealand as well as a Graduate Certificate in Religious Education. She also has a Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood teaching. Tua is presently teaching 4 year olds as an Early Childhood Teacher and these skills along with her extensive cultural knowledge will support the transition to school for our junior learners. Tua is our respected Board Chair (she will step down at the end of this year) and a leader in the Tongan Community.Mrs Brookes is going to take over as our new Reading Recovery teacher in 2016 as well as develop music across the school. We thank Mrs Elliott for sharing her reading recovery skills with our children for the past sixteen years and wish her well when she finishes at the end of this term.2. We welcome Miss Stephanie O'Malley into Senior Hub 1 to teach with Mrs Dooley. Stephanie is a highly motivated New Zealand trained who has just returned from two years teaching in England. She has a Diploma in Sports Management and Coaching and was Otago Hockey Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2007. Stephanie was Head Girl of Kaikorai Valley College and we look forward to her sharing her passion for maths, literacy, e-learning and sport with our Senior Hub 1 learners.3. We are also very pleased to welcome Miss Suzy Lind into Senior Hub 2. Suzy has just completed her teaching degree and is presently teaching Year 5 & 6's at George Street Normal school in Dunedin. Suzy is highly skilled in 'The arts', music, dance, drama, art and technology. She has a Diploma in Dance and is a Youthband organiser and Leader as well as a keyboardist. Suzy was Head Girl of Waitaki Girls and we look forward to her sharing her leadership skills and passion for life and learning with our Senior Hub 2 learners in 2016.Faith RefreshersI apologise for the lateness of my contribution to today's blog. I have just returned from an enlightening session on the Sacraments by Sr Jan Ogilvy. It was wonderful to see such a good turnout from our staff and families. Thanks to Mrs Plieger and Mrs Marsh who helped to coordinate the sessions this week. The Faith Refreshers have been a wonderful reminder of how we can all Reach for the Stars as Lifelong Learners in the Catholic Faith.

October is the Month of 'The Holy Rosary'. The Rosary is a special devotion to Mary. Many Catholics say the Rosary as a 'Weapon of Peace'. During the month of October we will be sharing prayers, during Koutuitui, that we say during the Rosary. The display in the entrance foyer will help explain what the Rosary means to us as Catholics.

Altar ServersSaturday 24th October - Elizabeth, Nicolas & Samuel Plieger, Matthew Gough and Isabella McNaughtSunday 25th October - Ellie Jorgensen, Stefanie & Sylvia Lavrijsen and Joel KunnethedanBirthday Greetings to:Seth Sinclair, Shakyla Meikle, Ngaire McDougall and Taine Stewart-CooperMufti DayWorld Cup mufti day is this Friday 23rd October. Children can come dressed in colours to represent participating countries. Mufti day donation costs $2 and goes towards fundraising for our new basketball/netball hoop. Thanks to Tegan Souness and Emily Hayman for organising these wonderful prizes donated by our generous North Otago community. Every $2 donation will enter your child into the draw for a prize. They can enter as many times as they like. Special thanks to Sutherlands (All Black Jersey), Ali Brosnan Family Hair Care, MacDonalds, Farmlands Co-operative, Top Flite, Dick Smith, Unique Skin and Beauty, Oamaru Pharmacy, The Warehouse, Sports & Outdoors for their wonderful prizes. Please pay the $2 to your classroom teacher.Scholastic Book ClubThe orders for the book club are due on Friday 30th October. Please note this is the last book club for the year and new orders will start again next year.Thai TakeawaysThere will be no Thai lunches available on Wednesday 28th October as the restaurant is closed for the week.AthleticsSt Joseph's senior school will be holding their Athletics Day on Tuesday 3rd November for the whole day (children who are 8 or older on 1st October are involved). We need to run this event safely and adequately and would really appreciate some help with the rotations. There is no need to be an expert and it will be a good chance to watch the children in action. If you can help, please email Mrs Souness at tsouness@stjoseph.school.nzThe programme for the day is as follows:9.05 am Assemble on courts9.20 am Rotation 110.00 am Rotation 210.40 am Break - drink and morning tea and then straight to next rotation11.00 am Rotation 311.40 am Rotation 412.20 pm LUNCH1.00 pm Rotation 51.40 pm Rotation 62.20 pm Afternoon breakA bell will indicate change of events. Children need to come to school in their sports gear and have a warm jersey or jacket, longs, sun hat, sunscreen on and a water bottle. Students that qualify for the North Otago Athletics will receive information about this.

Cricket

In an attempt to get more children (including girls) playing cricket, there will be 3 different grades this year.1. Super Star Cricket - aimed at Yr 1-3 children - plastic bat and ball - held at Weston Park on Thursdays at either 4.00 or 4.30 pm and will go for an hour - will be 8 aside - Mr Fowler is happy to coach this team and will drive the children out to Weston if they need a ride. - Starting day is Thursday 29th October.

Mr Fowler is overseeing the cricket and would like to put the children in a team based on their age in an attempt to get more children playing with their friends if possible. The Super Star cricket requires another 4-5 players, the 5th Grade requires another 2-3 players and the 4th Grade requires another 3-4 players.Please let Mrs Souness know if your child is interested in playing cricket this term.Community Notices

Calling All Old Mobile Phones - it's that time again to rummage around in your drawers and toy boxes and bring into school any unwanted mobile phones you may have at home. It is estimated that each year, up to three million phones become obsolete in NZ, of those only 2% are recycled. Phones collected help our school gain valuable rewards and the environment benefits as well as keeping our landfills free of mobile phones and their array of hazardous toxic substances. Please drop any unwanted mobile phones you may have in the collection box in the school office.

Kakanui School Quiz Night - Thursday 29th October at 7.00 pm at Purtons Cafe & Bar, Maheno. $30 per team and maximum 6 in a team. Register your team in advance and get a mystery prize - phone Kakanui school office on 439 5837 now!

Give Softball A Go - from t-ball for the kids to softball for the adults. Come along and give it a go on Wednesday 28th October and Wednesday 4th November from 6.00 pm onwards at Whitestone Centennial Park. Check us out on Facebook! www.facebook.com/northotagosoftball

Ardgowan School Gardens & Interiors - Sunday 8th November from 12.30 to 4.30 pm. View 8 homes and gardens and a sculpture display. $15 per ticket which includes afternoon tea at Ardgowan School. Raffles and a plant stall will also be available. The event will be held wet or fine. We request no young children please - treat yourself. Tickets available from Ardgowan school office, Mitre 10, Paper Plus, Oamaru Landscape Supplies and North End Pharmacy.

Big Wheels Day - Sunday 8th November at the Oamaru Racecourse from 11.00 am to 3.00 pm. Come ride on or explore in some awesome Big Wheels like a fire truck, digger, concrete truck, spreader, police car, ambulance, stock truck and much more. A family fun day out including face painting, sausage sizzle, coffee and free bouncy castle. All rides are $2 per child and adults ride for free with their child. Eftpos available and gold coin donation on entry. Run by the Weston Playcentre.

Victorian Fete - Sunday 15th November from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm in the Victorian Precinct.

Get Fit for Summer - fit for life! - just starting out or already active? Whatever your level, join one of our programmes to get fit, healthy and strong. Join us at the Waitaki Recreation Centre at 9.00 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday or evenings at 5.30 pm. Phone 434 6932 or email waitakicrc@xtra.co.nz